(TACL-4) Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language, Fourth Edition

BY ELIZABETH CARROW-WOOLFOLK

This popular test measures receptive spoken grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. It tells you how well a child understands three language forms:

1. Vocabulary: The meaning of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, and words that represent basic percepts and concepts
2. Grammatical morphemes: The meaning of function words (prepositions, pronouns, and determiners) and inflections (bound morphemes such as noun number and case, verb number and tense, noun–verb agreement, and derivational suffixes).
3. Elaborated phrases and sentences: The meaning of syntactically based word relations and elaborated phrase and sentence constructions, including the modalities of single and combined constructions (interrogative sentences, negative sentences, active and passive voice, and direct and indirect objects), embedded sentences, and partially and completely conjoined sentences.

The TACL-4 includes 142 stimulus items, each composed of a word or sentence and a corresponding picture plate showing three color drawings. The examiner reads the stimulus aloud, and the child points to the picture that best represents its meaning. (Oral responses are not required.) Items are presented in order of difficulty, and the use of basals and ceilings simplifies administration and scoring. The TACL-4 provides percentile ranks, standard scores, and age equivalents.

Normative data collected in 2012 and 2013 are based on a nationally representative sample of 1,142 children and are stratified by age relative to region, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic factors, and other critical variables. The TACL-4 is co-normed with its companion assessment, the Test of Expressive Language (TEXL; Carrow-Woolfolk & Allen, 2014).

An expanded age range now includes ages 3-0 to 12-11. Reliability and validity studies were conducted with individuals with normal language abilities; those previously diagnosed with learning disabilities, ADHD, a hearing impairment, articulation disorder, language impairment, autism spectrum disorder, or an intellectual disability; and those who have been identified as gifted and talented.

As with its predecessor, the TACL-4 is a reliable and valid assessment that helps you plan intervention, individualize instruction, and monitor progress.